Sydney Peters can’t wait to finally drop the cymbals in marching band and devote time to her true love: drums. With the semester coming to a close, she’s blocking out the cacophony during practice, especially sax serenades from Hunter Reed. But when Hunter offers her a paid gig as a drummer in his band, Sydney quickly changes her tune. The two favor different styles, but they make beautiful music together…in more ways than one.

Hunter is fascinated by Sydney’s distant allure. He might be a ladies’ man on campus, but the sarcastic cymbalist is impervious to his advances. When Hunter sees how passionate Sydney is behind the drums, he orchestrates a plan to find out if she kisses like she plays. What he doesn’t anticipate, however, is falling so hard. But will the repercussions of his past crash down on his chance at something real?

Band Nerds Unite! No, really…. Shannyn Schroeder has done it to me again! His New Jam is the 5th novel in Ms. Schroeder’s Hot & Nerdy series. It is full length, has an HEA and no cliffhanger. It is told from a first person POV between the two main characters. It can be read as a standalone, but for optimal enjoyment with the last three books in this series, I would suggest starting with the fourth book. They all interconnect without actually needing to be read to understand them, it just makes it more fun if you do!

I loved this story from the get go. Was in I band? Yes! Was I in marching band? No. However, the writing, and the story line within are engrossing. You get pulled into the world, and it will make sense for you.

One of my favorite things about this book? How Hunter and Sydney meet. I was beyond amused and laughing at Hunter’s antics. This guy is full on trying to get one particular girl’s attention and he doesn’t give up about it. He’s been trying for awhile too!

The chemistry between the pair simmered, but it’s no so overt that that you lose the story to just that. They completely clash at first. Sydney wants nothing to do with Hunter. It’s sort of a tug-of-war between them, a back-and-forth. Hunter wanting Sydney’s attention, Sydney alternatively just wanting him to go away.

You’ll also come to enjoy the co-characters within this book and want to learn about them. Which is great, because they have their own books!

Overall, it’s a great read, that isn’t too long. Engaging characters with a fun story line, and parts that will have you laughing out loud. It will also have you wanting to know how it ends. I’ve given it a full 5 stars.

**On a last note… I’m going to put a disclaimer in here, because after reading a few other reviews on this book, I’m honestly bothered. As a blogger and someone who loves to review books, I take my time to read the authors dedication, as well as their notes they leave in the books. Why would others not do this, especially with ARCs?

Ms. Schroeder makes mention that she knows nothing about band, marching band, etc, save for what she’s researched. She owns that up front. Does that mean this is going to be perfectly in line with what you’d find in band, or what not? No, but it is a story, and a dang good one. If you’re wanting to match reality exactly, well… you shouldn’t. I’ve seen a few reviews that pinpoint this, and that’s not exactly fair to the book. Just don’t go in with preconceived notions that it’s going to be exactly like high school or college band and you’re good.

Enjoy the story for the story and don’t nitpick those details. (I’m OCD y’all, so that’s saying a lot coming from me. I wouldn’t be even stating that if they seemed ridiculous.)**